3 players the Bulls should sign with a hardship exception

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Rondae Hollis-Jefferson Mandatory Credit: Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports /

Who the Chicago Bulls could sign with hardship exemption: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson

While the nature of a potential Rondae Hollis-Jefferson signing for the Bulls would be much different than adding Sumner, both could fill depth concerns if the hardship exemption opens up. Hollis-Jefferson could fill the void P-Will left open after he was knocked out for the rest of the regular season.

Hollis-Jefferson is not a good floor spacer, though. Williams is certainly a capable shooter from downtown.

Moreover, Hollis-Jefferson is one of the best on-ball defenders and one of the better inside scorers among forwards available in free agency at this point of the regular season. The Bulls could use a defensive boost at the three or the four considering both Green and Williams are absent at the moment.

I actually thought that Hollis-Jefferson was a potential solid signing for the Bulls after Williams was originally knocked out for the rest of the regular season two months ago. Hollis-Jefferson has a career 0.9 defensive box plus/minus and 8.6 career defensive win shares. The defensive impact he can make for the Bulls would be unquestioned.

The only thing I would mention as something conflicting that could cause the Bulls to look away from someone like Hollis-Jefferson if the hardship exemption is the fact that forward Derrick Jones Jr. fills a similar role to what he could in this rotation. Granted DJJ is more versatile.

Hollis-Jefferson last played for the Portland Trail Blazers last season, ironically the same team as DJJ. He hasn’t played a single NBA game so far during the 2021-22 regular season.